Terrarium

Here's what you'll need to build your own terrarium - for yourself or as a great gift for loved ones. Container: Pick your terrarium structure to reflect your style and decor needs. Keep it simple with a clean-lined jar or vase, or a voluminous bowl, or pick a quirky hanging orb or more ornate vessel. We like this curvy apothecary jar from Pier 1 ($24.95; pier1.com ). Pebbles or coarse sand: The first layer at the base of your terrarium should be at least an inch deep, depending on...

Here's what you'll need to build your own terrarium - for yourself or as a great gift for loved ones. Container: Pick your terrarium structure to reflect your style and decor needs. Keep it simple with a clean-lined jar or vase, or a voluminous bowl, or pick a quirky hanging orb or more ornate vessel. We like this curvy apothecary jar from Pier 1 ($24.95; pier1.com ). Pebbles or coarse sand: The first layer at the base of your terrarium should be at least an inch deep, depending on...

A terrarium is a miniature world, an indoor garden in a sealed, transparent container. It works as follows: the plants' leaves release water vapor, which condenses on the glass, trickles down into the soil and re-waters the plants--all in a cycle that seldom needs to be supplemented if the container is airtight. When conditions are right--a good soil mixture, the correct amounts of light and moisture and the appropriate plants--a terrarium is a self-contained ecosystem. ...

Terrariums have been popular with adults since Victorian times. But Katy Maslow and Michelle Inciarrano, authors of "Tiny World Terrariums" (Stewart, Tabori & Chang), make a case for younger enthusiasts too. The pair own Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Twig Terrariums (twigterrariums.com), and their enclosed gardens range from sophisticated to silly, with dinosaurs, unicorns and an array of other figurines telling enchanting stories in mossy tableaux. Their wonderful book provides...

Planting a terrarium, which is a garden in glass, is a rewarding green thumb project that will provide hours of enjoyment during the winter season. The result may be a delightful miniature, almost self-sustaining living landscape, or a dramatic setting for one or more favorite plants. Terrariums are the modern adaptation of the old-fashioned Wardian case, named after Dr. Nathaniel Ward, a British physician, who more than 150 years ago made the chance discovery that plants would...

Perhaps, back in sixth-grade science class, your teacher had you slice off the head of a two-liter plastic soda bottle. And you tucked inside a sweet potato that you had sprouted in a jar. Perhaps, to this day, that's the sorry little picture that springs to mind when someone whispers, "Terrarium. " Well, think again. The terrarium — the world's itty-bittiest garden, one that happens to delight under a see-through dome — is something altogether lovely, altogether made-to-order...

Growing plants under the protection of glass has been practiced for centuries in large outdoor greenhouses, but during the Victorian era in England the practice was taken a step further and brought indoors. The Victorians were fascinated with the natural world. Plant hunters were the rock stars of the time, leading expeditions to distant locales around the globe. The challenge for these explorers was getting the plants home alive, and keeping them alive once they got there.

Growing plants under the protection of glass has been practiced for centuries in large outdoor greenhouses, but during the Victorian era in England the practice was taken a step further and brought indoors. The Victorians were fascinated with the natural world. Plant hunters were the rock stars of the time, leading expeditions to distant locales around the globe. The challenge for these explorers was getting the plants home alive, and keeping them alive once they got there.

I have been told that some people consider the word "mother" a shorthand way of saying "control freak." Personally I've never seen the connection. But the other day, as I picked up a lone tap shoe from the stairs, removed a half-empty soda can from the kitchen table and returned three slobbery abandoned balls to the dog's crate, I admit I started fantasizing about being in charge of a tidy, tiny world. I pictured a small universe--in a box, so I could reach inside to straighten...

In the display tanks of Aqua Forest Aquarium, there is no neon gravel, no miniature plastic castles, no sunken treasure boxes sprinkled with glitter. Instead, owners and brothers George and Steven Lo have created natural replicas of miniature underwater worlds: a piece of driftwood draped with dark green moss, a lush undulating fern-filled forest, a peaceful grassy meadow and, in a tiny 5 1/2-gallon tank, a jewel box water-filled terrarium. Small fish and shrimp dot these environments, but they are only...

Developing a miniature living landscape in a terrarium is a pleasurable winter pastime affording plant buffs a chance to reveal their creative skills. Actually a garden encased in glass, the functional terrarium can be likened to a green-thumb art form. It is the modern version of the old Wardian case, named for Dr. Nathaniel Ward, a British physician who discovered more than a century ago that plants will thrive in a sealed glass container. Depending on what kind of...

When they first set eyes on their home in Palos Park 10 years ago, Rob and Tara Womer liked the comfortable feel of the small frame ranch with its old-fashioned kitchen facing a quiet wooded lot. They even liked the sunken pond that was embedded in the middle of the tile floor in the foyer. Liking the indoor pond, however, was entirely different from adopting it into their home. "I was afraid to fill it up," said Tara Womer, who was...

Creating a miniature landscape in a terrarium will prove an enjoyable pastime and test the imagination of green thumbers who find pleasure nurturing plants. A terrarium is simply a garden in glass, the modern concept of the old Wardian case--named after Dr. Nathaniel Ward, a British physician who made the chance discovery more than century ago that plants will thrive in the controlled environment of a sealed glass container. The container can be as small as a cookie or...

One way to keep the green spirit going through a Chicago winter is a terrarium: a small living landscape planted inside a glass container. Where many houseplants suffer from the dry air of heated rooms, a terrarium holds more moisture. We asked Connie Rivera, owner of City Escape Garden Center & Design Studio near the Garfield Park Conservatory in the West Side, to explain and show us how to do it. Just about any clear glass container big enough to reach into can make a terrarium: a cookie jar,...

One way to keep the green spirit going through a Chicago winter is a terrarium: a small living landscape planted inside a glass container. Where many houseplants suffer from the dry air of heated rooms, a terrarium holds more moisture. We asked Connie Rivera, owner of City Escape Garden Center & Design Studio near the Garfield Park Conservatory in the West Side, to explain and show us how to do it. Just about any clear glass container big enough to reach into can make a terrarium: a cookie jar,...

A roundup of five activities spanning the leisure spectrum. `VICKI LAWRENCE AND MAMA: A TWO-WOMAN SHOW' 1. As a high-school senior, Vicki Lawrence was a hopeful actress who wrote a fan letter to Carol Burnett after a newspaper reviewer mentioned her resemblance to the TV star. Burnett not only arranged a meeting, but cast the student as her younger sister on "The Carol Burnett Show" in 1967. Lawrence spent 11 years on the program, playing many parts, including Thelma "Mama"...

A roundup of five activities spanning the leisure spectrum. `VICKI LAWRENCE AND MAMA: A TWO-WOMAN SHOW' 1. As a high-school senior, Vicki Lawrence was a hopeful actress who wrote a fan letter to Carol Burnett after a newspaper reviewer mentioned her resemblance to the TV star. Burnett not only arranged a meeting, but cast the student as her younger sister on "The Carol Burnett Show" in 1967. Lawrence spent 11 years on the program, playing many parts, including Thelma "Mama"...

I have been told that some people consider the word "mother" a shorthand way of saying "control freak." Personally I've never seen the connection. But the other day, as I picked up a lone tap shoe from the stairs, removed a half-empty soda can from the kitchen table and returned three slobbery abandoned balls to the dog's crate, I admit I started fantasizing about being in charge of a tidy, tiny world. I pictured a small universe--in a box, so I could reach inside to straighten...

how to enter 1. Submit photographs of your garden. This year, we will accept prints, slides and electronic images (on CD-ROM, Zip or floppy disk, saved in jpeg format). We still, however, cannot return photography. Put your name on each photograph or slide and either caption each image or provide a caption sheet. A panel of gardening experts and garden writers and editors will judge entries. 2. Tell us in 100 words or less what qualifies your garden for the category...

Winter in the Midwest means bone-chilling cold and seemingly endless, dreary days. The first hardy spring bulbs won't show their blossoms for several weeks but that doesn't discourage Joliet garden designer Patti Kirkpatrick. To soften winter's blow, she creates a simple, inexpensive indoor landscape -- a personal, portable woodland -- to brighten a coffee table, buffet, desk or countertop. "I love to do tabletop displays because it's instant gratification and the design possibilities are endless,"...